I have seen a lot of movies over the years and I am definitely qualified to let you know which movies are good and which ones just plain stink. Today is the first of many Top 10 movies lists so I am going to start this one with one of my favorite movie genres - "Terrorist Take Over Movies". These are some of the best movies out there...when they are done well. I also took into account that there has to be a really cool bad guy or group. So let's get started.
Remember, these are my Top 10, not yours.

10.
Toy Soldiers. This 1991 film stars Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton, Louis Gossett, Jr., and my favorite Marine Corps Drill Instructor, R. Lee Ermey. This story is about a group of Colombian terrorists who take over a private all-male boarding school. One of the boys' father is a Federal Judge presiding over a trial with a drug lord named Enrique Cali. Enrique's son Luis Cali invades the school and takes it over so he can have a bargaining chip to have his father released. Most of the students are rejects or were kicked out of other schools, but they all put their minds together to help disrupt the terrorists while the authorities remain helpless. I won't give away the ending, but the scenes with the boys in tighty whities should have been cut out. Boxers boys! Come on! This movie is a great "Saturday afternoon" action flick.

9.
The Final Option. This 1982 British movie (also named
Who Dares, Wins) stars Lewis Collins, Judy Davis, and Richard Widmark. Judy Davis leads a militant group of anti-nuclear protesters who are planning some act of terrorism. The British government recruits SAS (Special Air Service) Officer Peter Skellen (Lewis Collins) to infiltrate the group and find out what's going on. Judy Davis's group takes over the American Embassy and Peter Skellen is stuck with them going in where he is not trusted. There are several plot twists that get this movie to the showdown. The SAS teams come in to rescue the hostages. The cinematography is awesome for 1982 where the camera puts you in the action wearing an SAS soldier gas mask mowing down terrorists. I have to mention you have to check out the porno music soundtrack - it's hilarious! This one is on Netflix - check it out.

8.
Red Dawn. This 1984 film stars Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey, and C. Thomas Howell. This movie doesn't necessarily have terrorists in it, but I'll put Cuba and the Soviet Union in there because I can. The movie begins in Calumet, Colorado where the United States is invaded by Cuban and Soviet forces. A band of teenagers and Swayze escape up to the woods where they learn how to shoot and become good at guerrilla warfare. WOLVERINES! There is great action throughout the movie and Powers Boothe has a short, but good role in this one. This is a great Cold War movie, and when its on TV, I always watch it to the end.

7.
Executive Decision. This 1996 film stars Kurt Russell, Halle Berry, John Leguizamo, Steven Segal (for a minute) and Oliver Platt. I like this one a lot. It's about a Boeing 747 that gets hijacked en route from Greece to Washington D.C. Terrorists, led by Naki Hassan (David Suchet), take over the plane and threaten to detonate a bomb and release stolen nerve gas over Washington D.C. if some terrorist named El Sayed Jaffa is not released. Kurt Russell is a D.C. think tank PhD. who gets to go with a US Army Special Forces team on a Stealth Fighter to sneak on the plane. I guess he is the only one who can point out the terrorists to the Special Forces guys. The way they all get on the plane is a little thin, maybe anorexic, but it's cool nonetheless. Check this one out, you will enjoy it.

6.
Die Hard 2. This 1990 film is a great sequel to the first Die Hard. This stars Bruce Willis as John McClane who is at Washington Dulles International Airport waiting to pick up his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) who is flying in on Christmas Eve from Los Angeles. He spots some shady characters and then the fun begins. Dennis Franz is great as the airport police chief and we even see Sgt. Al Powell (Reginald Veljohnson) in one scene. The terrorists, who are all Ex-US Army Special Forces, take over all incoming flights where they are awaiting the arrival of one flight in particular, carrying Ramon Esperanza, a drug lord and dictator of Val Verde. It's up to John "yippe-ki-yay" McClane to kill all the terrorists and save the day.

5,
Under Siege. This is my favorite Steven Segal movie by far. This one stars 2 great bad guys, played by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey. I can't leave out Erika Eleniak and her pop out of the cake scene - yum-o! The battleship
Missouri is on her last leg home to be retired and a party is held on board the ship for the Captain's birthday. The ship's XO Commander Krill (Gary Busey) arranges for ex-CIA agent William Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones) and his terrorists to get on board posing as a band and Playboy Playmate Jordan Tate (Erika Eleniak) is the "entertainment". Steven Segal plays Casey Ryback and is the captain's personal cook. He used to be a Navy SEAL, but got busted down to cook. The terrorists take over the ship and it's up to the cook to save the day. OH MAMA!

4.
Air Force One. This 1997 film stars Harrison Ford as President James Marshall and Gary Oldman as Egor Korshunov. The movie begins and US Delta Force and Russian Spetznaz commandos capture a genocidal dictator named Ivan Radek. A few weeks pass and the President, with his family, visits Moscow aboard Air Force One. While departing, they were unaware that six terrorist loyal to Radek have boarded the plane posing as a Russian news crew. They take over the plane and the action begins. Harrison Ford plays a bad-ass president and kicks some butt. The only problem I have with the film is that they spent zero dollars on the CGI. I was bummed out when William H. Macy gets killed.

3.
True Lies. This 1994 film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Arnold, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bill Paxton as navel lint, and Tia Carrere. Arnold plays Harry Tasker, a counter-terrorist operative who leads a double life. His wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) and their daughter Dana (Eliza Dushku) think he is a boring computer salesman. Albert Gibson (Tom Arnold) assists on the covert missions with Harry. Tom Arnold steals the show - he is hilarious. So the terrorist organization known at "The Crimson Jihad" smuggles some nukes into the United States through an antique dealer Juno Skinner (Tia Carrere). So Helen, bored with her husband, has an "affair" with a used car salesman named Simon (Bill Paxton) who pretends he is a secret agent. Some comedy ensues and Jamie Lee Curtis looks pretty hot in a strip tease scene she does in her undies. The action ramps up and is pretty entertaining. I would have to say this is one of James Cameron's best action flicks to date.

2.
The Rock. This is a GREAT film starring Nicholas Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris. Nicholas Cage plays FBI Chemical Specialist Stanley Goodspeed. A group of rogue Force Recon Marines led by Brigadier General Francis Hummel (Ed Harris) breaks into a Naval armory and steals several VX warhead rockets. The rogue Marines take over Alcatraz and take hostage of 81 tourists and threaten to launch the rockets into San Francisco if reparations are not paid to Recon Marines who died under General Hummel's command while on secret and illegal missions around the world. So Goodspeed is sent to San Francisco since he is a expert on disarming the VX . They also get the help of convict John Mason (Sean Connery) who is a former MI6 and SAS officer who escaped from Alcatraz. So Goodspeed, Mason, and some Navy Seals led by Michael Biehn go in and try to break into The Rock. I have to say that this is one of Michael Bay's best films, although he uses his slow motion sequences to over dramatize everything. This is a must see.

1.
Die Hard. In my humble opinion, this is the epitome of the best "Terrorist Takeover" movie ever made. In this 1988 film, relative unknown actor Bruce Willis stars as NYPD Detective John McClane who has just flown to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve to be with his estranged wife Holly Gennero (Bonnie Bedelia). He is taken by limo to Nakitomi Plaza, where his wife's company Christmas party is being held. The party is interrupted by 13 international terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) who portray themselves to police as terrorists with extremist goals. We learn that is not the case. Alan Rickman plays one of the best bad guys of all time. The movie is non-stop action with twists and turns. I remember when I first saw the movie, I had to catch my breath at the end. What a great flick!
Well that's my top 10 and I had a great time sharing them with you all. Please feel free to drop a comment to agree, disagree, or maybe let others know of movies not mentioned on the list.
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